Last week, Bengaluru City Police took the Twitter route to warn people who were spreading provocative messages around the Cauvery river issue via social media. The handle @BlrCityPolice tweeted out: “Anonymity on Twitter, Facebook etc. is a misconception. Don't live in a fool’s paradise. If we want, we can track you down!”

In spite of recent attempts by authorities to put control mechanisms in place, the internet has traditionally been a place where anonymity thrives, giving people the freedom to say and do exactly what they want. For better or worse.

But while anonymity has traditionally been a favourite either with trolls or dissidents under oppressive regimes, both of whom have good reason to not be identified, it’s also being harnessed to different ends by internet influencers of various sorts. At the outset, it seems highly counter-intuitive.

The usual formula for ‘influence’ on the internet involved putting oneself out there via a blog, speciality site or Twitter. It involved a painstaking process of building followers in a mostly organic manner, often via years of commentary and discussion. The endgame for many of these influencers was when brands approached them, trying to leverage their appeal with a pre-existing audience. But anonymity has a role to play in this space as well, even if the shape and form it takes and the ends it achieves are vastly different.

Don’t love/hate the person, love/hate the group

Consider Epic Spiritual, an anonymous YouTube channel that released the ‘Other Da Da Ding’ video as a strong response to Nike’s campaign. The channel’s video took the internet by storm. A representative of Epic Spiritual is of the opinion that, the internet and social media love 'personalities'. When Brand Equity asked the representative the reason behind the unknown identity, we got an interesting answer, “People want to follow, engage with, idolise or throw brickbats at a person, not at an entity, or a collective, because that's not as fun. And, we found that when there is a loose and fluid group of people behind a certain piece of content, it is not fair to have a single name or face associated with it.”

Another point raised by channel’s representative is that, often there is a grey territory when a social media user is an employee of a company. Individuals want to voice opinions in a personal capacity, and the firms that employ them typically have nothing to do with this. But organisations invariably get sucked into the maelstrom when an employee suddenly turns toxic on social media. Consider what happened with Justine Sacco.

“The internet is a Dumbledore and he gifts us with invisibility cloaks. One could use it well, for subversion, or misuse it, to disown responsibility for one's own toxicism, but that's up to the individual,” feels the brainchild behind Epic Spiritual.

Love me, love my persona

Another instance is people who are anonymous to the extent of being better known by their famous social media personas. For instance, Apoorv Sood popularly known as @Trendulkar on Twitter has around 117000 followers. Sood’s intention was simple when started the handle, he wanted to add humour to his content through a fictitious character. For him, content is what matters the most. “Agenda seekers and harsh users might use anonymity to be in a safe spot when their identities are unknown. In my case, many colleagues follow me on Twitter including my CEO. I don't think it puts me in a comfortable or uncomfortable place, irrespective. As they say, nobody is anonymous on the internet,” says Sood.

Dakshin Adyanthaya, vice president - digital marketing, PitchVision Cricket Technology, has similar views. He adds, “Most anonymous handles are successful not because they don't have a face to the account but because they create and curate fantastic content, that eventually gets people to follow them.”

Are brands buying anonymity?

Rajiv Dingra, ‎founder and CEO, WATConsult, thinks that while unknown accounts have always been there, the purpose was traditionally self-marketing or pulling someone else down. It's only recently that brands have begun associating with a few of them.

“It gives more credibility when people otherwise won't come forward and be honest. But in some cases, anonymity may skew the content as well depending on the real person behind the anonymous face,” says Dingra.

According to, Prince Khanna, founder and CEO, Eleve Media, an influencer marketing platform, many anonymous users often create authentic content which has more shareability compared to branded content.​“Anonymity is just a way to stay connected with a wiser audience interested in the privacy circuit of an individual. The marketing impact of anonymity is a more valuable feedback from a consumer on the usage of products and services. It is a great medium to actually create meaningful conversations and not just a buzz,” he concludes.